Thursday, February 26, 2015

Women’s yearnings for beauty (YH#3)

                                                                           Attribution: Yusuf Hashim
This is Modern Day Explorer #3
Modern Day Explorer #2 (here)

Yusuf Hashim says:
A Moroccon lady hand squeezing the rare Argan oil which are used as an effective beauty oil treatment for ladies. It seems it is an all rounder in the beauty oils department. Keeps your skin smooth and no need for botox injections 

Latest: Yusuf Hashim is planning another trip to Morocco this month of May
Check it out  (here)

Wiki says:
To extract the kernels, workers first dry argan fruit in the open air and then remove the fleshy pulp. The next stage involves cracking the argan nut to obtain the argan kernels. Attempts to mechanize this process have been unsuccessful, so workers still do it by hand—making it a time-consuming, labour-intensive process. Berber women often engage in this arduous task.
Workers gently roast kernels they will use to make culinary argan oil. After the argan kernels cool, workers grind and press them. The brown-colored mash expels pure, unfiltered argan oil. Finally, they decant unfiltered argan oil into vessels.

Cosmetic argan oil is produced almost identically, though the argan kernels are not roasted to avoid an excessively nutty scent  -  Wiki

Hank's Haiku

Timeless Berber folks
Time is measured in a thin 
line on a cat’s back  -   (Claudia)

Unlikely product
Women’s yearnings for beauty
Affects village life

Cracks in our mask
Keeping illusions complete  - (Brian)
Beauty has a price

Note: Claudia suggests to utilize extracts of  lines 
in a poem from herself or Brian to create a poem. 
Hank took on from both

For Claudia's hosting at d'Verse

Known to contribute to charity too!

                                                                                 Source: Time Magazine
Image: Al Capone on the 1930 cover (here)

The given 3WW words:
docile inflict whimper

His merry-men mainly in green
Known to be on the side of the downtrodden
Robbing the rich and helping the poor
In the late Medieval times

Popular with the ordinary folks
Who were at the mercy of tax collectors
who inflicted untold sufferings
Often times accepted without a whimper
Epitomized by the obese Sheriff
With his band of soldiers
Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest
Told amidst folklore of romances
Meeting Little John on the bridge
Friar Tuck who got him into a soaking
While docile Maid Marion provided the colors

He was not alone giving to charity though
An unlikely modern day philanthropist
Known to contribute to charity too
From ill-gotten wealth in bootlegging
But protected by the Mayor from the law

He was Scarface Al Capone
Involved in bumping off the North Side Gang
Robin Hood of Chicago
Or more appropriately
Robin the Hood of Chicago


For Thomg's hosting at 3WW #416

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Saddened visage of appearance

                                                              Artist: Pier Francesco Mola (1612–1666)
Image: Alertness of the Aged (here)

MLMM's given words:
visage (the face) defunct broken bowl
curdle (to turn bad to go wrong
paper tiger (has appearance of strength but ineffectual)
altruism (unselfish concern for the welfare of others)
draught partition  
anabiosis (bringing back to conscious, reanimation after apparent death)
twinge

Saddened visage of appearance
Taut piercing
Defunct of intuition but determined
An underlying wit still apparent

Can an aged being still matter?
Broken bowled over with exhaustion
Curdled into inaction
A paper tiger garbed in pretenses

Hey! What’s the problem?
Acts of altruism in younger days
Accentuated the draught
draining much of his strength
That perhaps wedged a partition
on his being
It wore him off!

But mentally he was steadfast
That certainly was a consolation
Moving with alertness of that age
of decades ago
None of the anabiosis

Frightening just to think about it
The advent of memory loss
Of non recognition
Not even a twinge of a smile
Even of loved ones

No, not just yet
Gaunt that he was
Dementia still held off!

What a bad word
Dementia!
No not to toy with it
Don’t ever mention the word
Sacrilege!

For Yves' hosting at MindloveMisery's Menagerie
Wordle #49 and Kerry's Tues Platform at Real Toads

Sunday, February 22, 2015

He is greater than the greatest! (YH#2)

                             
                                                                                         Attribution: Yusuf Hashim
Image: Courtesy of Yusuf Hashim - A Mursi boy (here)

Modern Day Explorer #2
Modern Day Explorer #1 (here)

Yusuf Hashim says:
This is a Mursi boy, who couldn't be more than 12 years old, with an AK47 Kalashnikov on his shoulder. He demanded money when I shot this photo of him. I didn't want to argue with that globally acclaimed widow-maker, so I gave him 20 Birrs for this photo. That's equivalent to about 50 cents
.
The wealth of most African tribal people is based on cattle ownership. There's lots of inter-tribal cattle stealing going on and that AK47 is being used for guarding the family's herd. An AK47 is usually part of the bridal gifts that a young man wanting to marry, has to give to the bride's family, including probably 20 to 30 cattle.

You need to go to Africa to see how much the cow is revered in rural Africa. Wealth is measured by the number of cows one has. Among the Surmas and the Mursis and Suris, cows are seldom slaughtered for meat. Instead, they drink cow's blood mixed with meat. Cow poo is sacred and not unclean. Fresh cow poo is often smeared over the face and body for medicinal purposes. Prior to milking a cow, the hands are often washed with fresh cow urine.

The given words:
tiny perched uncut umbrella delicate
post river petals blue yearning hopeless

He’s the greatest
Unlike Muhammad Ali
He’s tiny not  muscular nor a fighter
But with an AK47 perched on his shoulders
He is greater than the greatest

Uncut diamond barely 12 years of age
He provides the umbrella
To safeguard his family’s wealth
A man’s job entrusted into delicate hands

He’ll be at his post by the river
Petals of flowers red and blue
Surrounding the country-side
Provide the color besides
the body and facial decoration

This is a man’s job
for the future man of the household
His yearning for 20 heads of cattle
is not a hopeless cause
Not at all!

For Brenda's hosting at Sunday Whirl
Wordle #200 with the given words
and Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #240

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Little creatures do not bite!

                                                                                                Attribution: Panoshaf
Image: Honey Bee making its rounds (here)

Nothing the matter
Little creatures do not bite
Not unless provoked

Just leave them alone
Give them space without border
To do their own thing

Beautiful flowers
Opening up to the sky
Invaders welcomed

Daily adventure
Yellow pollen all over
Stocking the larder

For Chev's CARPE DIEM  Little creatures #18

Gateway to Heaven

                                                                               Attribution: Diego Delso (CC-BY-SA)
Image: Balcón del Mediterráneo, Benidorm, Spain (here)

A Shadorma
A non-rhyming form of 3-5-3-3-7-5 syllables

Balcony
or viewing platform
glimse of wealth
faraway
opens opportunities
to those who are brave

A Fibonacci
with syllable count of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…

Steps
kind
dainty
friendly ones
Gateway to Heaven
Care to seek forgiveness before
doors closed for born-again sinners seeking redemption?

For Georgia's hosting at MLMM BJ's
Shadorma and Beyond - fibonacci

Stood out in hues of yellow

                                                                                               Artist: Van Gogh.  1888
Image: Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing (here)

Van Gogh’s Langlois Bridge
Stood out in hues of yellow
A striking color

A likely background
Congregation of housewives
With stories to tell

Whatever season
Held steadfast to its blessings
Snows or greenery

For Paloma's hosting at Chev's CARPE DIEM
Time Machine #4  - yellow

Friday, February 20, 2015

extending his reach mindful not to miss

                                                                                            Photo Attribution: Francis
Image: Castle of Burg Eltz (here)

Real Toads: given words:
miss / remiss
deem / redeem
wager / dowager
pulse / repulse
file / defile
peat / repeat
sent / absent

Shakespearean sonnet structure:
abab, cdcd, efef, gg

extending his reach mindful not to miss
wayward persistence taken to have deemed
languid in form struggling much in remiss
strong resolve to take it through to redeem

in his mind fair bunkum of a wager
in a sinister way to test the pulse
to invoke strength of lady dowager
careful not to trigger off a repulse

they might just come in droves in single file
across meadows moors marshes and peat
to unwittingly get themselves defiled
happily even going for repeats

but the hand of Providence was God-sent
demise at night was why he was absent

Note: Conveniently combining the Get Listed list
at Real Toads and writing in a Shakespearean sonnet
form with the volta 

For Bjorn's hosting at d'Verse MTB - twist and shout
and grapeling's at Feb's Get Listed at Real Toads

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Springy ride every time

                                                                                Attribution: JJ Harrison
Image: Bennett's Wallaby (here)

3WW given words:
content evolve sober
Poetry Jam:
loneliness /solitude

From a blob of a new-born
no larger than a puppy
just as unsure groping
moving upwards eyes unopened
stumbling into the ‘pocket’

Discovering by instinct
life-giving udders
in the warmth of the inner
reaches of the same pocket

Life can never be better
as a start for a start

Content with life
Springy ride every time
Sober and protected
To always be welcomed
back by Mama without tears
To jump into the sanctuary
when danger sensed

Joey a privileged off-spring
Some loneliness while inside
But ‘who cares’
Safe and sound and abundant food
But ‘who cares’

But wait up, just a minute Joey-boy
There is One who cares
If your Mama was not evolved
with a convenient pouch
You would have been left a pink blob
on the grass like every other babies

Providence cared and had the pocket
‘stitched on’ so you can ride
while other babies had to run
and be chased by dingoes

For Thomg's hosting at 3WW #415
And Sumana's at Poetry Jam

Monday, February 16, 2015

Pebbles strewn along the track


Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag (here)

Wordle #199, the given words:
angel cue crack empty wrestle held
memory acts pebbles track saintly 

Angel in disguise waiting for a cue
To crack empty promises
To wrestle off images
Held in memory of acts of betrayal

Pebbles strewn along the track
Often led them on a wild goose chase
Unwittingly causing impediments
Slowing to  a saintly progress

But mindful not to breathe a word
Broken leg accepted
As long as secrets were not spilled out
Sanctity of oath upheld

Justice came swift and silent
A mild reminder a severed ear
Or unseen pulled off finger nails
But more grisly trussed into oil drums
Perhaps found years after
A body in concrete

A consolation though
Heard say victims given freedom
To choose how best they wished
to be discovered later
when left for dead

For Brenda's hosting at Sunday Whirl Wordle # 199
And Tess' Magpie Tales # 258

Saturday, February 14, 2015

It came in spurts!

                                                                        Attribution: Cpl Russ Nolan RLC/MOD
Image: Grenade Machine-gun fire (here)

What a word!
It came in spurts
Many thought the world was round
Their meager survival was safe and sound
Many sincerely believed but found
they were wrong
A grim discovery
The rude ills of a bully

It came in a din
Not in any ordinary scene
But one of wanton destruction
Meted devoid of compassion

Change of tactics
Made them slick
It was before on the ground
But now the use of drones
Brought it to a higher level
Resulting in upheavals

Fire-power against man
Sufferings that remained
Brushed aside as collateral damage
Lame justification no less
Faulted for consorting
Or so it would seem
With enemies who were cursed
They could not escape the bursts

It came in spurts
Staccato was the word

For Adele's hosting at Music in It  - to write on a word 
one loves or hate and Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #239

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Love is and love is not

                                                                        Artist: Pierre Auguste Cot
Image: In All of its Innocence (here)

3WW given words:
frown devious venomous

Love is and love is not
A greeting card so beautifully woven
not something to be frowned on

Love is and love is not
To be taken lightly
without the overriding emotions

Love is and love is not
To be left in the wrong hands
mishandled and devious

Love is and love is not
To be let loose
with venomous onslaughts

So what then is love?
Search me!

For Susan's hosting at PU's Midweek Motif and
Thomg's 3WW #414

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

a fruit and a color

                                                                              Attribution: Danny Gregory
Image: Two of a Kind (here)

Fruits of the citrus kind
Grapefruits lemons limes and oranges
Sharing commonality to the taste-buds
of sour bitter and sweetness
Balanced hybrid catering to all

Given to certain specifics though
They are cultivated for a certain good

Bitter oranges for marmalades
Bergamot oranges grown for its peel
A contribution to aromatic adventures
A primary essence for perfumes
Trifoliate oranges the hardy ones
That can withstand the sub-freezing cold
Mandarins the sweet offerings
Taken fresh taken raw
Munches or juices

The saga of an orange
A fruit and a color
Lauded as one
convenient in a fruit basket
Readily to be peeled
Taken as a fruit to munch or
to be taken to quench
a thirsty palate

For Gabriella's hosting at d'Verse Poetics:
Writing tothe Art of Danny Gregory

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

blessings of nature’s beauty!

                                                                                                  Attribution: Concord
Image: Sunset over the Rostock Harbor (here)

Few minutes ago
Stark contrast of harbor's lot
Confusing bedlam

Colorful backdrop
Blessings of nature’s beauty
Now peaceful quiet

Impending darkness
Spectacle hidden from view
A way of giving

For Chev's CARPE DIEM  #665  - sunset (over harbor)

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Star-Lord swung into action!

                                                                                                          Attribution: Norman Hazrin
Sketch of Star-Lord: 
Done by Hank’s grandson, Norman. Looking at the sketch 
Norman could have detected that it was not balanced. He by 
instinct must have included a quadrant on the right-hand 
corner to correct the defect, not quite but just.

Star-Lord aka Peter Jason Quill
A fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books
published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and
Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4
(Jan. 1976). The son of a human mother and alien father,
Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary
policeman  -  Wiki

The given words:
burst emit fleece fill sound clown tumble
instill seal wound glass another

A stab of high powered fire-power
appeared out of nowhere
A burst emitting noxious fumes
with a blinding flash

The townspeople had been fleeced dry
But they were still expected to fill the coffers
of the ugly bully who demanded payment
His henchmen sent yet a repeat
Fumes filled the air
amid staccato sounds of gun-fire

No more clowning
Star-Lord swung into action
He tumbled out into the open
He ought to instill discipline
His resolve was set
Just one rapid fire from his bazooka
Sealed the fate of the bully’s men
The dying and wounded laid moaning
amid shrapnels of glass and acrid smoke

Made short work of his intentions
Just another day of action
Law and order triumphed 

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl wordle # 198 and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry # 238

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Step on it when the going is good!



 Image: Courtesy of Georgia (here)

Step on it when the going is good
Given to good times in life
What of those on the factory floor
Safety boots to whet the confidence
Together with a safety helmet
Life's like that for one to feel assured

Perhaps army boots tied in a peculiar manner
Smart and shiny where one's image
discerned as through a mirror

But no match for a pair of soccer boots
So upmarket in trend and pricing
Not just functional but show and tell
To be in league with soccer greats
Who flaunt more than just boots
Of their affluence with fast cars 
and a bevy of beauties

Life's like that!
Some have it some don't!
Vying for the limelight!
Commercialism at its best

For Georgia's hosting at Mindlovemisery's 
Menagerie with a picture prompt

Friday, February 6, 2015

Ah..ha! A twitch of the eye again!

                                  
                                                                                        Attribution: Nvineeth
Image: A National flower (here)

Reeling, thumbed on the head
Looking blankly at the ceiling
A twitch of the eye 
A scratch on the nose
Sitting back and stretched fully
Ah..ha! A twitch of the eye again
Only then it came
It must be preceded with an ah..ha
Then think of something beautiful
Perhaps a hibiscus 
with hues of pink and purple

The first word was followed by another
Then another, then another
It would then proceed
Sometimes kinks in between
At other times smooth sailing
Three lines most times
Then another line
But it would stop after the first stanza
Then another ah..ha
So it went on

Completion of at least three stanzas
was a must
For it was only considered enough
Even if it was a haiku
A three set haiku was most desirable
Enough fodder to come to a finality
Instead of just seventeen syllables

Note! To include something of home, 
in this case a hibiscus

For Ella's hosting at Real Toads: Poetic Eye:
Kumulipo - Preceding the birth of a Poem

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Adverse conditions will impinge adversely

                                                                                          Attribution: Anna Kucsma
Image: Snow on Trees (here)

3WW given words:
desire  shiver  wilt

Desire to do good is a journey of fulfillment
It takes a long while just to create awareness
let alone to achieve some kind of success
In an environment of heavy snow weighing
on the branches one can expect divergent opinions as
visibility is scant and the cold is debilitating
adverse conditions will impinge adversely

How does one measure up to the intended target
so that a designated path is carved out
To plan is to play host to one’s ideals
opening up to the shivers of intrusion
for one’s inclination is often questioned
It is not so much to ridicule but more of wanting to understand

For this same reason is the necessity of making it known
The ultimate aim will conjure a picture of the likely pattern
in every participants’ imagination of difficulties to surmount
It can help if a visual adaptation is presented
This will impose the responsibility on those leading the show
to give a good briefing with lots of multi-media components
It can bring divergent assumptions to a realistic assessment

Good leadership is essential to avoid wilting under pressure
The journey’s end is the satisfaction gained with no expectations
of monetary implications hidden within

Only then the satisfaction is fulfilled


For Marina's hosting at d'Verse with  - snowed under iced in 
Thomg's at 3WW # 413 with the given words and
Mary's at Poetry Jam  -  journey

Monday, February 2, 2015

Warmth of foxtrot and grace of tango


Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag  (here)

The given words:
blustery (windy) imprint refractive 
warmth grind foam retro (designating
the style of an earlier time) sip cocoa 
nacreous (resembling mother of pearl)

The blustery winds of the northern star
Was an imprint of the resounding sixties
Refractive and reflective of doors ajar
Allowing a new dance craze through swiftly

Righteous warmth of  foxtrot and grace of tango
Foaming at the mouth and grinding to a halt
Not to bother with slow slow quick quick slow
Rather turn and tumble of Rock and Roll's assault

The Twist later brought some semblance of control
But the backbreaking Limbo brought back a retro
A lone contender expected to slip under the pole
Egged on by a boisterous crowd with 'how low can you go'

A teenager's crowd more of dance steps just learning 
Sipping beer hot chocolate or cocoa but still having a ball
None of those that delved into the hot hard drug scene
But all sane nacreous of value often with parental approval 

For Tess' Magpie Tales # 256  -  picture prompt and
Yves' hosting at Mindlovemisery's Menagerie # 46